Lee finishes his season a $6m man
If there were any remaining doubts as to whether New Zealand golfer Danny Lee is among the world elite, they were dispelled on Monday when he chased Jordan Spieth home in the lucrative PGA Tour Championship.
Only 30 players contested the East Lake Golf Club event in Atlanta, the others having been culled during the season and three knockout-style playoff tournaments.
In the final round of the final event of his arduous 36-start season Lee, 25, shot a five-under 65, leaving him tied second – four shots adrift of American Spieth who returned to world No 1 with the win.
Lee finished on five-under with former US Open winner Justin Rose of England and Swede Henrik Stenson, who sank a 57-foot putt for birdie on the final hole.
In his wake were major winners Jason Day, Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy and world top-10 players Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson.
World rankings released on Monday have Lee climbing to 35th. He started the tournament 53rd, and the year 220th.
New Zealand has not had a top50 male player since Michael Campbell, in March 2007.
Lee ended the season with a paycheque worth NZ$970,565, taking his total for the season to NZ$6,220,925.
His won the Greenbrier Classic in July and posted a second, a third, seven top-10 finishes and 12 in the top 25.
No player on the PGA Tour faced the starter as often as Lee, who put the perfect icing on his long season at East Lake by slotting seven birdies and two bogeys. He climbed from seventh on the leaderboard in what proved the second-best round of the day.
Tour-end statistics point to Lee’s short game as the key to his success – he was in the top 10 for one-putting, and third from holing out from off the green.
Victory sealed an overall playoff win for Masters and US Open champion Spieth, confirming him as the top player of 2015.
Lee, who ended the season ranked No 9 on tour points, now heads for Korea to play for the International team this week against the United States in the Presidents Cup.
With every step on tour he seems more comfortable rubbing shoulders with the likes of Spieth and Fowler.
There is a fair chance Lee will have Kiwi company on the PGA Tour next year, after solid efforts by Tim Wilkinson and Steven Alker in the web.com Tour playoffs on Monday.
The top 25 players on the second-tier tour playoff money list not already qualified for the PGA Tour will win tour cards for 2016.
Wilkinson finished tied for ninth at one-under in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio, with Alker one shot back, tied 16th.
Wilkinson is now inside the top 25 – 19th – among those chasing tour cards, and needs a solid finish in the tour championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida this weekend.
Alker climbed from 50th to 35th, improving his prospects of staying on the top tour.
Lee and Wilkinson capped a top weekend for New Zealand professionals, with Daniel Pearce and Sean Riordan notching top-10 finishes in Asia.
Former Hawke’s Bay amateur Pearce finished in a tie for 10th in the Cadillac Championship on PGA Tour China, eight shots adrift of winner Bryden MacPherson of Australia.
New Zealander Josh Geary limped to finish tied 64th with a six-over 78, but retained his order of merit lead – the top five players at the end of the season qualify for the US-based web.com Tour.
Riordan, who hails from Nelson, finished third in the Taiwan Championship on the Asian Development Tour, two shots behind Thammanoon Sriroj of Thailand, and Wei-lun Wang of Taiwan.
He came home strongly, climbing from 17th after three rounds on the back of a four-under closing 68. His paycheck lifted him to third on the order of merit and looking at a place on the richer Asian Tour in 2016.